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Report : Tahir gets Gloucestershire in a final day spin

28 September 2017

Gloucestershire's unbeaten record in the Championship at the Brightside Ground in 2017 was ended on the final day by Derbyshire's veteran leg spinner Imran Tahir.

Bowling with all the exuberance which has been the hallmark of his career, he took 5-76 and the visitors dismissed for 223 in pursuit of a victory target of 381 in 80 overs.

The match, which had seen more than a day lost to rain and bad light, was set up by captains Phil Mustard and Gary Wilson after declared on their overnight first innings score of 224-2. Derbyshire, facing Mustard and Chris Dent, scored 144 runs in 40 minutes to leave an equation which meant the remainder of the final day would have meaningful play, Derbyshire picking up their third win of the season by 157 runs with 20.3 overs in hand.

Listen to head coach Richard Dawson's reflections at the close here :

Around the country other matches were heading towards positive finishes, and with a decent weather forecast it seemed a shame for this one to drift towards a draw with neither side's final position in the table under threat. The options on the devised target and Phil Mustard's immediate declaration with Gloucestershire 236 runs in arrears on first innings game a clear indication of a long chase to the finish line.

That stance was understandable from a Derbyshire viewpoint, given only 12 wickets had fallen across the 172.1 overs bowled on the first three days. A short chase would have significantly favoured Gloucestershire batting last, so Ben Slater and Luis Reece walked to the wicket knowing quick runs were available to fast forward the match.

In the end, they batted for less than an hour, peppering the boundary boards off the unlikely opening attack of Phil Mustard and Chris Dent. 28 boundaries quickly ticked up, and when Dent bowled a wide in the 14th over, Slater (74*) and Reece (61*) headed for the pavilion, leaving Gloucestershire to score 381 in 80 overs to win the game.

Facing such a large total the start was circumspect, especially after Benny Howell was well caught by 'keeper Harvey Hosein in Harry Podmore's second over for five. Hardus Viljoen used the yorker against both Chris Dent and James Bracey but both were equal to it, the latter getting off the mark with a lovely off drive.

The pair had almost reached lunch when Podmore, after switching ends, induced an edge from Dent (19) and Hosein picked up his second catch. It left Bracey and George Hankins in almost a parallel position to the first innings with both openers gone and some rebuilding to do.

From 54-2 at the resumption they again showed creditable composure, especially against Imran Tahir who had bowled the last over of the morning session. Shot selection was important, and both played a lot towards the straight boundaries, which were shorter than usual because of the temporary stands still being in place following the ODI.

Hankins drove from his crease, both down the ground and over mid off, while Bracey's footwork enabled him to strike a straight six towards the pavilion. The pair had added 70 in 15 overs when Tahir's persistence was rewarded as Bracey, on 44, was teased to try and go over mid wicket and Will Davis made ground to take the catch.

With the Pakistan born spinner wheeling away at one end Derbyshire could explore their options at the other, Wayne Madsen bowling a few overs of off spin before Viljoen returned for a second spell. It went unrewarded, but Tahir continued to chip away at the Gloucestershire middle order, taking a smart return catch to remove Hankins for 48 and then trapping Jack Taylor lbw for 7.

It left Gloucestershire 147-5 with half their allocated overs gone, although attacking fields meant skipper Phil Mustard and Kieran Noema-Barnett knew quick runs were still possible. We'll never know what might have happened had their stand flourished after tea as just before it Derbyshire got a bonus sixth wicket. Noema-Barnett, having clubbed six boundaries off only 19 balls, tried to Madsen over long off, only to find the safe hands of Davis at deep cover from the outside half of the bat.

His departure for 30 left Derbyshire needing only four wickets in the final session, and their path towards victory was accelerated by the introduction of their second leg spinner Matt Critchley.

Bowling for the first time in the match, he removed Mustard for 37 - seemingly off a bottom edge - and had David Payne caught at slip within his first four overs. Tahir, after a brief breather, bamboozled Josh Shaw and when Matt Taylor was adjudged lbw, Derbyshire had taken Gloucestershire's last seven wickets for 88 in 24 overs to wrap up victory.

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